Poet Hannah Sanghee Park has been selected as the latest recipient of the Theodore H. Holmes ’51 and Bernice Holmes National Poetry Prize awarded by the Lewis Center for the Arts’ Program in Creative Writing at Princeton University.

Poet Hannah Sanghee Park, recipient of the Holmes National Poetry Prize from Princeton University’s Program in Creative Writing. Photo courtesy Hannah Sanghee Park

The Holmes National Poetry Prize was established in memory of Princeton 1951 alumnus Theodore H. Holmes and is presented each year to a poet of special merit as selected by the faculty of the Creative Writing Program, which includes writers Michael Dickman, Aleksandar Hemon, A.M. Homes, Ilya Kaminsky, Christina Lazaridi, Yiyun Li, Paul Muldoon, Patricia Smith, Susan Wheeler, and a number of distinguished lecturers. The award, which currently carries a prize of $5,000, was first made to Mark Doty in 2011 and has since also been awarded to Franny Choi, Eduardo Corral, Natalie Diaz, Tyehimba Jess, Matt Rasmussen, Solmaz Sharif, Evie Shockley, and Jenny Xie.

“The Holmes National Poetry Prize is an unexpected, significant uplift that arrived at a critical time in my career,” said Park. “I’m beyond honored and heartened by this recognition from the Princeton faculty, and to join past prize recipients, two groups of remarkable poets I’ve long admired. In my surprise and elation upon hearing the news, I’ve gone between having no words and many words. What stays is gratitude for this sustaining support.”

Park is the author of The Same-Different (LSU Press) and a recipient of the Academy of American Poets Walt Whitman Award. Characterized by meticulous language and word play, Park’s poems have been praised by The Los Angeles Review of Books for the way her debut collection “reminds readers of the capaciousness of [the poetry genre] language poetry’s verbal and emotional range.” She has received fellowships from Yaddo, Civitella Ranieri, and the U.S. Fulbright Program, among others. Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Park holds degrees from the University of Washington, the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and the University of Southern California.

“Working within and against constrained forms, Hannah Sanghee Park’s poetry interweaves public and private narratives through a sonic structure and explores the endless possibilities of language,” noted Yiyun Li, Director of the Program in Creative Writing. “We are delighted to add Park to an illustrious roster of Holmes Poetry Prize winners.”

Visit the Lewis Center website to learn more about the Lewis Center for the Arts and the Program in Creative Writing.